The inserter/extractor disclosed herein is applicable to printed circuit boards, integrated circuit mother boards, and the like.
It is common to require several circuit boards to be inserted in closely-spaced parallel relationship into a card guide. To this end, each board would be grasped by its trailing edge and urged leading edge first into the card guide which has slots receiving the opposed side edges of the circuit board. A contact arrangement on the leading edge of the circuit board engages an electrical connector when the circuit board is fully inserted into the card guide. For insertion of a circuit board, tight board-to-board spacing is typically not a problem since there is almost universally trailing edge alignment between all of the circuit boards when they are fully inserted. However, with respect to extraction of a circuit board, tight board-to-board spacing can present an obstacle to firmly grasping the trailing edge of the circuit board.
It is known to provide a cam lever, pivotally attached to a trailing edge corner of a circuit board to facilitate circuit board removal. The camming action of such a device against the card guide provides only a limited amount of extraction, and the device does not aid in circuit board insertion. Furthermore, the expense of such a device is reflected in every board that may be inserted into the card guide.
It is also known to provide a hole through the circuit board in a trailing edge region thereof, preferably large enough that one could insert a fingertip into the hole for extracting the circuit board. When tight board spacing disallows the use of a fingertip for extraction, it is known to provide a separate hooked tool to "catch" the hole. Tools, of course, have a propensity for not being available when needed.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device that aids in both the insertion and extraction of circuit boards in card guides, and that is integral with the card guide.